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The Connie L. Lurie College of Education, which will host the San Jose site for the California Teachers Summit, is committed to teacher preparation (photo by Robert Bain).

Approximately 500 teachers and aspiring teachers, from preschool through high school, will meet on July 31 at San Jose State as part of an unprecedented effort to concurrently assemble 20,000 teachers at 33 locations statewide.

With fresh credentials in hand, enthusiastic and energetic teachers charge into classrooms hoping to change young lives. But in the first year they often end up feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and unprepared to teach and manage classes.

Now the Obama administration wants to improve teacher training so that newly minted teachers arrive prepared and able to deliver high-quality instruction. Too many teacher credential programs focus on theory, critics say, and devote too little time to instructing teachers on how to teach. And reformers say too many teachers — 40 percent — leave the profession in the first five years, in part because they’re unable to handle a complex, tough job…

While California colleges may dismiss rankings of their programs, proof of success shows up in school superintendents’ recruitment. The Franklin-McKinley School District finds its best recruits in Midwestern universities, Superintendent John Porter said, and also in a San Jose State program that provides a yearlong residency, longer than other schools.

“We get superstars out of that program,” said Porter, who believes quality training is critical.

A joint venture of SJSU and the Santa Clara County Office of Education, the event has paired education students and Bay Area teachers with music, dance, theater and visual artists each November for the past five years.

This year, the conference is changing it up and bringing teachers to downtown San Jose arts venues for hands-on lessons in how to bring the arts into school classrooms.

Inspiring teachers

With tight budgets and more classroom time being devoted to core academics, conference organizers say it is more important than ever to show teachers how art can be used to teach traditional academic subjects.

Arts is the first thing that’s cut from schools because of lack of time and limited funding,” said Robin Love, an associate professor at the Lurie College of Education’s Department of Child and Adolescent Development.

“Through music, through theater, through dance, through visual arts, you can teach other subjects. There’s evidence that would support that the arts are good for you cognitively, but also it can just be motivating for students.”

Love says introducing teachers to a host of different museums also offers them wonderful resources to spice up their lessons and can help arts education thrive.

“Thrill-Seeking Gummi Bears”

The conference will bring artists, musicians and actors to SJSU’s campus on Nov. 21 to put on workshops for 250 students in the Lurie College of Education. On Nov. 22, 125 teachers will convene at the San Jose Museum of Art for “Thrill-Seeking Gummi Bears.”

For this design challenge, teachers will be tasked with making parachutes and baskets for Gummi Bear candies and be judged on how long their sticky bears can stay aloft.

They will move on to workshops at the Children’s Discovery Museum, the Tech Museum of Innovation, the Museum of Quilts and Textiles and the California Theatre, where the Silicon Valley Symphony will present.

Workshops include how to teach math skills through quilting and music, how to use color, texture and sculpture to explore geography, how dance can help teach mapping and how origami can be used to teach visual thinking.

Cultural connections

Esther Tokihiro, visual and performing arts coordinator of the Santa Clara Office of Education, says the goal in moving the conference out into museums was to help foster relationships between classroom teachers and museum and theater arts educators.

Susan Verducci, associate professor in the Department of Humanities at SJSU and one of the conference organizers, says arts help connect students to other cultures and allows them to understand the world better, but that not all teachers or education students have exposure to the arts.

What we hope to do with the conference,” she said, “is to tantalize them and show the power the arts can have in teaching various concepts.”

The festival is supported by a generous gift from the late Marion Cilker, a graduate of San Jose State with a degree in art and education. Cilker also endowed two full-tuition scholarships for teacher education students who show a commitment to infusing their teaching with the arts.

San Jose State — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 3,740 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city.

In 1998, Paul Lawrence received the Distinguished Contributor Award from the North American Case Research Association. At the same meeting, Anne (pictured with her father and mother, Martha) received an outstanding case award. Now a professor at SJSU, Anne has received the same award as her father, an honor bestowed just 15 times in 56 years (photo courtesy of the Lawrence family).

Professor of Design Alice Carter, founder of the Animation/Illustration Program, lectured on “The Illustrator and the Hero: Inventing a Mythology in Pictures” at the Haggin Museum in Stockton on Nov. 6. The presentation explored America’s fascination with superheroes, “very much an American invention,” Carter noted.

Music Lecturer and Director of Orchestra and Opera Theater Michael DiGiacinto is Winchester Orchestra of San Jose’s new music director, succeeding Henry Mollicone who held the post for more than 25 years. DiGiacinto made his debut with the orchestra at San Jose’s Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and Saratoga’s West Valley College in concerts featuring the works of Jean Sibelius, Wolfgang Mozart and Dmitri Shostakovich.

Anne Lawrence today (photo by Jane Richey).

Professor of Management Anne Lawrence received the North American Case Research Association’s Distinguished Contributor Award in recognition of her leadership as the organization’s president, her two-time guest editorship of Case Research Journal, her case publications and mentorship. In addition, she founded and currently serves as chair of the Case Research Foundation, whose mission is to provide scholarships to young case writers and researchers. The Distinguished Contributor Award is NACRA’s highest honor and has been awarded only 15 times in the group’s 56-year history. Because her father received the award in 1998, the honor “was especially meaningful,” Lawrence said. “My father was my first case teacher.”

After 35 years at SJSU, Jeanne Linsdell retired as General Engineering lecturer and director of the College of Engineering’s Technical Communication. “Life is full of new beginnings and new opportunities,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a new chapter.” An educator and consultant in American Samoa for more than 20 years and former Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Ukraine, Linsdell received Outstanding Lecturer awards from the university and the College of Engineering during her career at SJSU.

SJSU’s Collaborative for Reaching and Teaching the Whole Child, directed by Elementary Education Professor Nancy Markowitz, received a $100,000 Packard Foundation / Ashoka Changemaker Award in recognition of the collaborative’s efforts to build vibrant communities and equip young people to become leaders of change. The collaborative will use the award to develop a model for integrating social and emotional learning in K-12 schools and educator training.

Humanities Lecturer Victoria Rue delivered the Kappen Memorial lecture in Bengaluru, India, sponsored by Visthar, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating women, children and other marginalized groups about their rights. Rue spoke on “Rehearsing Justice: Theatre, Sexuality and the Sacred,” a discourse on the cultural and religious taboos imposed on gender and sexuality.

Playwright and Associate Professor of Communication Studies Matthew Spangler’s stage adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel “The Kite Runner” is currently on tour in the UK, co-produced by the Nottingham Playhouse and the Liverpool Playhouse. An earlier version of the play was performed on campus in 2007. “The book has a huge following and people who come to see the play are going to notice the changes,” Spangler acknowledged. “You have to be faithful to its essence, but you can’t put everything in. Fortunately, Khaled Hosseini is a very generous person.”

Scott Sublett’s “Screenwriting for Neurotics”

Professor of Screenwriting and Film Studies Scott Sublett published “Screenwriting for Neurotics: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Feature-Length Screenplay from Start to Finish” (University of Iowa Press). (SJSU students previously made do with the dog-eared, photocopied course reader version of the book.) “It’s the only screenwriting text on the market that also addresses the psychology of the screenwriter,” said Sublett’s editor, Elisabeth Chretien. Sublett is also an independent filmmaker whose films include “Generic Thriller” and “Bye-Bye Bin Laden!,” which satirizes the build-up to the Iraqi War.

SJSU Research Foundation senior research scientist Grant Taylor, whose work supports the Aviation and Missile Research Development Center, received the 2014 Jerome H. Ely Human Factors Article Award at the annual meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in Chicago. His applied research focuses on the impact of new technologies on U.S. Army users, specifically the interfaces used to control unmanned aerial systems.

SAN JOSE, CA – Seeking to nurture regional educational leaders from pre-school through high school, San Jose State has initiated a doctoral program in educational leadership, the first independent doctoral program to be offered by the university. The endeavor offers principals, district officials, teacher leaders and non-profit leaders the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the forces shaping their profession so that they may better serve their communities and advance in their careers.

“The doctoral program in educational leadership reinforces San Jose State’s commitment to preparing educators for the Bay Area,” said Elaine Chin, dean of the Connie L. Lurie College of Education. “San Jose State was founded more than 150 years ago as a teachers college. This new doctoral program will expand our ability to prepare the leaders needed to build a system that provides all students with a high-quality education.”

The inaugural class of 16 Ed.D. candidates includes principals, assistant principals, district office personnel, and teacher leaders from a diverse group of schools and districts in the greater San José region. These working professionals will spend three years at San Jose State, taking classes each summer, fall and spring, culminating in a research project and dissertation. The program is now recruiting its second class.

Diverse Curriculum

The Ed.D. curriculum focuses on case studies and rigorous inquiry in four core areas: leadership and reform, organizational behavior, contexts of leadership and learning, and research methods. Although San Jose State is the 14th California State University campus to offer an Ed.D., SJSU is the system’s only program to include a global studies component, which will expose participants to other nations’ systems, challenges and solutions.

“Global experience is essential given the multinational composition of today’s schools,” said Ed.D. Program Director Arnold Danzig. “While America’s schools have always welcomed children from abroad, the national origin of our students is growing beyond Europe, Mexico and East Asia to Africa, the Middle East and Central America. We believe the international context creates and reflects a major set of opportunities and issues that schools must address.”

Faculty Expertise

The Ed.D. program draws on the diverse expertise of San Jose State’s faculty. The team includes professors and researchers in the fields of engineering, psychology, sociology, ethnic studies, communication studies, global leadership, and urban and regional planning.

Of course, at the core of the Ed.D. program is the College of Education’s experienced faculty in educational leadership, counseling, general teacher education, child development, special education, and research methodologies.

The program was launched in summer 2014 with lectures by internationally acclaimed scholars David Berliner and Gene Glass, co-authors of “50 Myths and Lies That Threaten America’s Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education.” Their book, published in March, attempts to methodically debunk myths about the American educational system using logic and data in order to better inform the public and form the basis for sound policy making.

Nurturing Leaders

The CSU doctoral programs for educational leaders were authorized by the California Legislature in order to respond to the urgent need for well-prepared administrators to lead California’s public schools and community colleges. More than 80 percent of California’s superintendents will be eligible for retirement in the next five years. In Santa Clara County, nearly 1,000 administrators serve 398 schools.

The CSU Board of Trustees standardizes tuition for all doctoral programs. SJSU Ed.D. candidates also pay campus-based fees. The annual cost has been estimated at just over $18,000.

San Jose State — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 3,740 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city.

As the keynote speaker at a King Library luncheon organized by the Committee for Economic Development (CED), a nonprofit, nonpartisan, business-led public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.,the lieutenant governor told business and education leaders that California’s public university systems are “selling an industrial version of education in a communications age.”

Citing unemployment rates as high as 25 percent in Colusa County, in comparison with seven percent in Santa Clara County, Newsom urged both systems to develop “action plans” addressing “this Gatsby Curve that now exists quite acutely.”

What used to be a moral thing to do,” CED Executive Vice President Michael Petro said of public education, “is now an economic imperative.”

During a panel discussion, Elaine Chin, dean of the Connie L. Lurie College of Education, noted “decades of dis-investment,” have eroded efforts to make good on philosopher John Dewey’s vision:

“What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children.”

An Inflection Point

Jay Banfield, founding executive director of Year Up, agreed that the country had hit an inflection point, where “companies are struggling to find talent” yet “talented young people are struggling to find opportunities.”

This connected to a question from moderator Lenny Mendonca, director emeritus of McKinsey & Company and a CED trustee to ask: What do CEOs look for when hiring?

“The ability to switch from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, the ability to change, and the ability to participate in a team,” said David F. Welch, co-founder and president of Infinera.

They need to have the perspective that it’s going to be a wild ride,” Welch added, “so accept it.”

As child and adolescent development graduates embarked on a “commitment to a life of service,” they shared memories of lighter moments that reminded them “it only takes one teacher to make a difference.” (Stanley Olszewski photo)

The graduates’ supporters snapped, leg-clapped and swayed to Smokey Robinson’s “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” and The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love,” while the incandescent Tower Hall provided the perfect finishing touch to this energetic crowd.

The master of ceremonies, Lecturer Donna Bee-Gates, opened the event by welcoming the graduates, families and friends. She told grads that she was “awed” by their hard work, persistence and ability to overcome challenges.

Staying Connected

Before turning over the ceremony to Elaine Chin, dean of the Connie L. Lurie College of Education, Bee-Gates reminded graduates to “stay connected” to what they loved and to keep “excited and engaged.”

In her welcome address, Dean Chin entrusted full faith in the graduates who would provide “tremendous service for the communities they would serve” and commended graduates on their forthcoming “commitment to a life of service.”

Child and Adolescent Development Club President Michelle Doan spoke next, thanking Lecturer Cheri Reaves for teaching her that “everything we do is purposeful” and sharing a vignette about checking out tadpoles with a child to remind her fellow “teacher child advocates and beyond” that “it only takes one teacher to make a difference.”

The Most Significant Watermarks

An entertaining and compelling keynote speech followed by “humanitarian entrepreneur” Jon Talbert, who carried on the theme of the important role of the educator by saying “the most significant watermarks come from your teachers.”

Talbert reminisced about his kindergarten teacher, who challenged him to conquer the monkey bars on the first day of class with the lesson that “sometimes there will be things you will have to climb up over and down to get to what’s best.”

Talbert concluded his speech with advice for graduates to “find and keep doing their genius niche,” “have the courage in teachable moments” and “use power words that win.”

Shout-Outs

In a recent survey, SJSU asked new grads if they would like to send a shout out to family and friends. Here are some of the responses we received from child and adolescent development majors. More will be shared at Commencement.

Elizabeth Yanez: “I would like to thank my whole family for always being there for me through the beginning of this journey.”

Emerald Green: “I want to thank all of the students who have supported me and befriended me since my freshman year. You have all inspired me in many ways to continue to be who I am and reach my full potential.”

SAN JOSE, CA – SJSU’s 2013 Commencement speaker will be philanthropist and alumna Connie L. Lurie. She will also receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at the event, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. May 25 in Spartan Stadium.

Approximately 8,000 candidates who completed their studies in August 2012, December 2012 and May 2013 will be eligible to participate.

“Connie Lurie’s lifetime dedication and exceptional generosity to San Jose State, as well as her visionary philanthropic spirit and positive impact on the Bay Area as a whole, merit these honors,” President Mohammad Qayoumi said.

Always an educatorLurie graduated from San Jose State in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and psychology. She taught in elementary schools on the Monterey Peninsula for six years and later ventured into real estate investment. She was the executive director of Who’s Who International, and served as an admissions counselor for Heald Business College.

In her heart, Lurie has always been an educator. She established the Guardian Scholars program, which provides support and mentorship to former foster youths at SJSU. In 1998, she endowed the university’s Lurie Author-in-Residence program.

Lurie has been involved in many worthwhile causes throughout the Bay Area and California. She has served on boards for numerous organizations, including Strive for College. She has served as an advisory trustee for the California State Parks Foundation for more than 30 years.

University’s highest honor

In 2008, Lurie received the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Distinguished Alumni Award and the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice’s Citizen Involvement Award. Lurie remains a very active supporter of her alma mater. In 2000, she was the founder of Spartans in the Desert, an annual gathering for SJSU supporters. She also provided funding for the database that formed the backbone for SJSU’s first comprehensive fundraising campaign.

In 2006, SJSU presented Lurie with the Tower Award, the university’s highest honor, and in 2007, the CSU Board of Trustees granted SJSU the naming of the Connie L. Lurie College of Education, in recognition of her visionary service and support, including a $10 million gift.

San Jose State University — Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 30,000 students and 3,850 employees — is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city.

President Mohammad Qayoumi will recognize four top graduates at Commencement, which begins at 9:30 a.m. May 25 in Spartan Stadium. Approximately 8,000 candidates who completed their studies in August 2012, December 2012 and May 2013 will be eligible to participate. Around 25,000 graduates, family and friends are expected to attend the ceremony.

Maimona Afzal and Travis Lopez have been named SJSU’s 2013 Outstanding Graduating Seniors in recognition of their scholarship and contributions to the community. Sarah Swift and Shruthi Thirumalai have received the 2013 Outstanding Thesis Award in recognition of the exceptional quality of their research.

Maimona Afzal, 2013 Outstanding Graduating Senior

Maimona Afzal is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies. She says that her college experience has given her opportunities to interact, collaborate, and serve her community in many ways. A Kaucher Mitchell Honorable Mention recipient, Afzal is graduating with a 3.98 GPA. She led 15 volunteer tutors as a coordinator for the Homework Club and managed the Reading to Children program. Off campus, Afzal advocated for orphaned children as a volunteer with the GiveLight Foundation and spent her summers as a counselor and troop leader for a youth camp. Graduating at the age of 18, Afzal hopes that her drive will inspire others to act on their dreams. Afzal has accepted a position at Teach for America, where she will be working with special needs children in East San Jose.

Travis Lopez, 2013 Outstanding Graduating Senior

Travis Lopez is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He says he has enjoyed increasing awareness about globalization while at SJSU. He is graduating with a 3.936 GPA. Lopez served as a leader in the Entrepreneurial Society and the Executive Leadership Council, and still found time to pursue entrepreneurship through the Spartups Incubator and the MIS Association. A Salzburg Scholar, Lopez also worked in Hong Kong through the Thompson Global Internship Program and analyzed mobile applications for the city of San Jose and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, as part of two honors student programs. Lopez has accepted an offer to work at NetApp, a network storage and cloud computing company, and will continue with his most meaningful contribution, Mobedio, a start-up that uses an online public opinion platform to increase civic participation.

Sarah Swift, 2013 Outstanding Thesis Award

Sarah Swift is graduating with a master’s degree in communicative disorders and sciences. For her thesis “Low-tech, Eye-Movement-Accessible AAC and Typical Adults,” Swift studied augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Some types of AAC make use of eye movements as a means to communicate wants and needs, engage in social relationships and continue with daily life for those who have lost the ability to speak. Swift focused on low-tech eye-gaze methods in typical adults. Before her study there was not much research on the preference of commonly used eye-movement accessible AAC systems by non-neurologically impaired adults. Her study added to the knowledge in the field by providing a baseline for low-tech eye gaze methods. Swift is currently a speech pathologist in Santa Clara Valley Medical Center’s rehabilitation unit.

Shruthi Thirumalai, 2013 Outstanding Thesis Award

Shruthi Thirumalai is graduating with a master’s degree in general engineering. She dreams of continuing research that will help people lead healthy lives. For her thesis, “Opto-Acoustic Interrogation and Ultrasound Imaging Of Acoustically Sensitive Microcapsules,” Thirumalai examined the use of ultrasound to locate and modulate the release of cancer-killing drugs from microcapsules when they are implanted in breast tumors. Her biomedical engineering research crossed the fields of ultrasound, microencapsulation and microfluidics, and has resulted in two conference publications, one journal article, one poster presentation and the San Jose State research award for engineering. Thirumalai says that each class at SJSU has given her different ways to challenge herself. She is currently considering biomedical engineering doctoral programs and hopes to give back as a mentor by becoming a professor one day.

A blue-and-yellow candy buffet greeted guests at the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences convocation on May 25. Once inside Morris Dailey Auditorium, graduates’ families and friends faced a stage with rows of silver chairs. Soon they would be face to face with their loved ones, who were dressed in caps and gowns.

McLeod, who has cerebral palsy, gave his speech with an iPad app called Proloquo2Go. The app transformed a text file he originally typed on his Macbook into an audio recording with a male human voice.

He talked about the different Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices he had used throughout his life and the people who have worked with him. He encouraged the graduates to listen to their future clients.

“It is ultimately their communication that you’re facilitating,” McLeod said.

His speech concluded with one of his poems, “Wall,” to illustrate the importance of the work that the graduates will soon be doing.

“I yell myself hoarse like a bullfrog / but I cannot get my family and friends to get close to me / so they really know / my dreams, thoughts, desires, and feelings,” he recited. “I shiver behind this clear wall / and wait for someone to notice me / wait for a chance to speak.”

“A lot of times, people who stutter want to hide it,” Assistant Professor Pei-Tzu Tsai said. “In therapy, we aren’t only addressing the stuttering part, but also the feelings and attitudes that come with it.”

“They work on their speech techniques to help them move through the moments when they get stuck,” Tsai said. “They also talk to each other about their feelings and attitudes which helps them to open up.”

Clients apply through the Kay Armstead Center, and then are evaluated by student clinicians, who admit them to a weekly group therapy program based on their individual needs.

Student Clinicians

“As a student clinician, I have the opportunity to apply what I learn in class to different clients,” said communicative disorders graduate student Chenjie Gu. “My favorite part is helping clients develop better communication skills.”

Nick Puzar is one of five students taking part in the program.

“The clinic has helped me understand what stuttering is, what parts of stuttering can be treated, how different types of treatment work, and what resources are available to myself and others in the clinic,” Puzar said.

Tsai hopes to expand the clinic to serve children and teenagers and wants to gradually implement clinical research that will test therapy and improve efficacy.

"The number one reason why teachers leave after a couple of years is that they are having a tough time managing their classrooms. We are offering this class to meet a need," said instructor Nicole Ramos-Beban (Lurie College of Education image).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

How do you keep the attention of a class of 30 squirming students? And what you do when that attention is lost?

It all depends on how you manage your classroom, according to Secondary Education Lecturer and Placement Coordinator Nicole Ramos-Beban.

“There needs to be a baseline of structure in order for productive learning to happen,” Ramos-Beban said. “If there is a hole in the curriculum or structure, students will walk through it.”

The class is part of SJSU’s five credential programs for educators: multiple subjects (elementary education), single subject (secondary education), special education, administrative services, and counseling.

“She pushed us to consider the populations that we will be teaching and to examine our own ideas about race and class,” teaching credential candidate Jane DeRosa said.

Ramos-Beban talked to SJSU Today about how environment plays into learning and what students should get out of taking her class.

SJSU: What is the purpose of your class and why do we need to offer it now?

Ramos-Beban: The number one reason why teachers leave after a couple of years is that they are having a tough time managing their classrooms. We are offering this class to meet a need. The most well-structured, student-centered classrooms are the ones where you see the most time on-task and the deepest learning.

SJSU: What do you teach students in your class?

Ramos-Beban: In the first third of the semester, we learn about building a learning community, and look at theories around putting together an inclusive learning community. The second third looks at different management theories and approaches where we focus on rules and routines. The last third is focused on students putting together their own classroom management plan.

How do students benefit from taking your class?

Ramos-Beban: Students leave the class with a pretty large toolkit of practical strategies. Students not only raise their ability level related to the subject, but also put learning routines in place for entering the classroom, turning in homework, and responding when their students miss class.

The Green Ninja, a climate-action super hero created at SJSU, continues to draw support.

The project has received a $390,000 grant from NASA to support professional development for teachers, and $20,000 from PG&E to pilot an energy reduction contest for Santa Clara County middle schoolers.

Collaborating education researchers at San Jose State University, San Francisco State University, and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have received nearly $2 million over five years from the U.S. Department of Education to develop methods of training prospective elementary school teachers how to best teach English to English learners while also teaching grade-level content.

David Whitenack, associate professor in the Department of Elementary Education, is the co-principal investigator at SJSU on the English Language and Literacy Integration in Subject Areas (ELLISA) project, which will be implemented and evaluated in the multiple subject teacher preparation programs at SJSU and San Francisco State. The project is based on using effective teaching practices that integrate the teaching of English language and literacy development with the teaching of science, mathematics, and social studies. Collaborating SJSU faculty, all in the Department of Elementary Education include Assistant Professors Jolynn Asato and Grinell Smith and Associate Professor Patricia Swanson.

A critical issue facing education in the 21st century is to prepare teachers to work with the rapidly increasing population of students with limited English proficiency. The National Education Association projects that by 2025 one in four students in the United States will come from homes where a language other than English is spoken. Today, California public schools educate more than one-third of the nation’s English learners.

The education of English learners is complex because it involves teaching academic language and literacy to students while also teaching grade-level content such as science, math, and social studies. Studies have shown that English learners can quickly fall behind native speakers in acquiring academic knowledge and language skills.

The $1.97 million grant comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition National Professional Development Program and provides the opportunity to bring together cutting-edge research on teaching school subjects to English learners with best practice in teacher preparation to develop a model that can be used to prepare teachers to effectively teach math, science, and social studies to English learners in California and across the nation. One of the goals of the ELLISA project is to directly redress the chronic underachievement of English learners in content-area courses so as to better prepare them for undergraduate degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The ELLISA consortium includes two partner school districts in San Jose: Alum Rock Union Elementary and Franklin-McKinley, both of which serve large populations of English learners.

Competition in the 2011 National Professional Development Program was intense with only 42 grant proposals recommended for funding out of 262 applications submitted.

Students learn about coffee production and its relationship to the local, national and global economy at La Bella Tica Coffee Farm in Monteverde, Costa Rica (photo courtesy of Jason Larker).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

Nineteen graduate students from the College of Education’sDepartment of Counselor Educationparticipated in a faculty-led trip to Costa Rica January 3- 20, led by Professor Jason Laker and Assistant Professor Dolores Mena.

“This program prepared counselors to advance social justice principles and become effective at cross-cultural issues,” Laker said.

Students received credit for two counseling classes that focused on service learning and supervised experience. Master’s counseling education student Rebecca Frank appreciated the exposure to a different point of view.

“You can go across the world and there are the same problems,” Frank said. “To be more a competent global citizen, you have to be aware of things that are happening globally.”

According to Mena, students were required to journal before the trip and answer prompting questions when they got back. The students also presented group projects the first week in Costa Rica that “brought together concepts and theories for cultural teaching.”

In addition to applying critical thinking and educational theory, students experienced first-hand barriers to learning. They rolled up their sleeves to clear trails, prune education gardens, and build safe sidewalks for K-12 school children.

Innovative Thinking

“We learned how to become innovative in maximizing people’s strength in working with clients and embrace new experiences with different lenses,” said student Daisy Villicana.

(November 8, 2011) – The California State University’s CalStateTEACH Multiple Subject Credential Program recently received a unanimous recommendation for Full Program Accreditation by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC). The CTC’s Committee on Accreditation recommended the accreditation after a thorough review of the CalStateTEACH program by the Bureau of Institutional Reviewers. Established in 1999, CalStateTEACH is a non-traditional program that offers both a student teaching and an intern program for qualified candidates interested in earning their credential without attending traditional college classes. Instead, the curriculum is delivered online. Participants use online materials, E-texts, videos and electronic tablets. They share ideas through web-based “class discussions,” and get professional feedback through on-site coaching. CalStateTEACH participants enjoy personal guidance from mentor teachers at their school site as well as CSU faculty. They communicate and share ideas with other participants via the course website. Approximately 6,800 participants have completed the CalStateTEACH program with candidates participating from each of California’s 58 counties.

Senior communications student and King Library employee Diana Teddington demonstrates how quick, clear and user-friendly the iPads are at the library (photo by Amanda Holst).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

Apple’s iPad is popping up all over campus, providing students, faculty and staff with the opportunity to explore the potential educational benefits of mobile technology. King Library is the latest place to give it a try.

“Right now we are experimenting and figuring out how often students are using them and in what ways,” said John Wenzler, associate dean for digital futures, technical services and information technology.

Students, faculty and staff can borrow any of the available 26 iPads at Student Computing Services for a four-hour block of time for use in the library.

A Quick Start Guide shows those who checkout iPads how to easily connect to the library’s wireless network, locate multiple apps, and access and use the library catalog.

Recipients cannot owe more than $10 in library fines and must be able to take full responsibility if the iPad is stolen or damaged.

CASA iPads

Two iPads are available for CASA students at the CASA Student Success Center. The long-term plan is to find ways to use such tech tools to enhance retention rates, according to CASA Student Success Center Director Kathryn Sucher.

This term, the iPads will be used in workshops to help students with notetaking.

“You can sync your notes to your computer and use the material in a variety of different places, creating presentations or portfolios,” said Dane Riley, an Apple higher education system engineer.

For now, CASA peer mentor and senior kinesiology major Michelle Pascua is using the iPad to go online.

“The benefit of having it at the success center is that if you need to do a quick search, it’s literally at your fingertips,” she said.

Lurie College iPad Initiative

The Connie L. Lurie College of Education may be the only place on campus where instructors can check out enough iPads for an entire class. This program, funded in part by an iPad mini-grant last spring, is designed to explore whether the iPad is a good tool for teaching in a K-12 setting, according to Interim Associate Dean Mary McVey. This semester, three classes will participate in the pilot program.

“The iPads have the potential to help instructors create K-12 classrooms that are flexible and individually-orientated,” McVey said. “If it is a good tool for that setting, then we need to have our students trained and ready to use them.”

These "node chairs" are what’s new in classroom furniture. Their swivel seats, adjustable work surfaces and rolling bases adapt to match the lesson of the day, and highlight mobility and flexibility (photos by Robert Bain).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

Wasabi, picasso and chili pepper red are some of the neon chair colors brightening general classrooms in Sweeney and Clark halls this fall.

These “node chairs” are what’s new in classroom furniture. Their swivel seats, adjustable work surfaces and rolling bases adapt to match the lesson of the day, and highlight mobility and flexibility.

“The manufacturer did exhaustive research on trends in the workplace, in schools and universities, and designed products that help users deal with their issues and to meet those needs,” said One Workplace Learning Environment Specialist Trevor Croghan.

One Workplace and SJSU worked together to develop a classroom that meets the needs of 21st century students and teachers, focusing on the ability to deliver and receive content in several different ways.

Node chairs allow users to easily reconfigure the classroom, from lecture-style, to small or large-group settings, to conference-style. Roomy storage space at the base of each chair, and arms designed to hold purses and backpacks, free the aisles of clutter. The chairs are able to accommodate right and light-handed students, and are comfortable for people of all sizes.

“With the traditional desks, many classmates refuse to crane their necks to look at the person speaking, making the class environment less than welcoming,” said nutrition major Miranda Westfall.

“If students are sitting in a dynamic and engaged environment, they feel much better about coming back to class and are more likely to seek out information and learn outside the classroom,” McVey said.

The original idea to purchase the node chairs came in fall 2009, when the College of Education was working on creating the Leola Lyth Forward “Smart” Technology Classroom. A grant helped equip the smart classroom, including futuristic seating now in classrooms across campus.

This month, 20 high school teachers from Northern California schools are on campus for their Introduction to Engineering Design “bootcamp,” a two-week intensive training workshop for our Project Lead the Way engineering curriculum. Project Lead the Way is an important foundation for SJSU’s Engineering Pathways to Success program. The public-private initiative seeks to engage Bay Area middle and high school students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and empower them to succeed in college engineering programs and engineering careers. More than 2,000 students in 23 Bay Area schools currently participate in the program, with another 20 schools coming on board this fall. The teachers reside in Campus Village housing and spend eight hours a day in the engineering building learning computer-aided design software and best practices for engaging their students in a hands-on, project-based curriculum. Participants include math, science, and career/tech ed teachers; among them are a few who entered the teaching profession after obtaining engineering degrees.

San Jose, CA – San Jose State University’s Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering today announced that it has received commitments for $1 million USD in donations from KLA-Tencor Corporation, Xilinx, Inc. and San Francisco Bay Area companies to fund its Engineering Pathways to Success (EPS) program. EPS is a public-private initiative to engage Bay Area middle and high school students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and empower them to succeed in college engineering programs and engineering careers. More than 2,000 students in 23 Bay Area schools currently participate in the program.

Lead donor KLA-Tencor, a leading provider of process control and yield management solutions, has committed $500,000 to EPS over five years, funded through the company’s charitable organization, the KLA-Tencor Foundation. Lead donor Xilinx, the world’s leading provider of programmable platforms, has committed $250,000 to EPS over five years. Xilinx is donating another $250,000 directly to schools involved in the EPS program, also over five years as part of a program initiated in 2010. Other Bay Area employers, including Aruba Networks, Cisco, Intel and Chevron, have committed a combined $250,000 to EPS. Lam Research, Lockheed Martin and Agilent Technologies have contributed directly to area high schools.

“Silicon Valley is the innovation engine of the world, and we need to make sure we are providing enough homegrown engineering talent to keep it running,” said SJSU Interim President Don Kassing. “By joining forces with our corporate partners and reaching out to local high school students and teachers, Engineering Pathways to Success is increasing the numbers, diversity and preparedness of California’s future engineers.”

According to SJSU College of Engineering Dean Belle Wei, of the 85,000 high school seniors in the Bay Area, “45% of them will enter college, but just 10% will plan on becoming engineers. Moreover, based on national statistics, only about half of students who intend to declare a major in STEM fields earn STEM degrees. That is what EPS and our corporate sponsors are working to change.” (See sources below.)

Added Wei, “One way to produce more engineers overall is to tap larger and more diverse talent pools. Just 10.3% of U.S. engineering professionals are women and just 4.4% are African American, 11.5% Asian and 4.6% Hispanic. These percentages are very low considering the makeup of the total U.S. population, which means engineering as a profession is falling short in its attempts to reach out to all potential future engineers.” (See table below.)

“The Engineering Pathways to Success program is an important initiative that creates early hands-on access for students, providing unique experiences to attract engagement in STEM disciplines,” said Rick Wallace, president and CEO of KLA-Tencor, and member of the Board of Directors for the KLA-Tencor Foundation. “This program is a natural and strategic fit for the KLA-Tencor Foundation to support, as we remain strongly committed to Silicon Valley and cultivating educational opportunities that ultimately lead students on a clear path to success in school and their future engineering-related careers.”

“Our support for the EPS program at San José State underscores Xilinx’s commitment to fostering leadership in a global society, while preparing young people for the workforce of the future,” said Ivo Bolsens, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Xilinx. “The strength of the program lies in its integration of STEM subjects into elementary and secondary education, which builds a bridge from high schools to San José State for future engineers. Support for the program is also a natural extension of our long-standing relationship with the university, which is a rich source of workforce talent for Xilinx.”

EPS is a multidisciplinary effort within SJSU that includes the College of Science and the College of Education in addition to the College of Engineering. To achieve its goal of increasing the number and diversity of students who successfully complete college engineering degrees, EPS focuses on three main program elements: Helping middle and high schools implement an engineering curriculum; training new and experienced teachers to teach engineering; and providing intensive summer programs for incoming first-year SJSU engineering students to help them transition from high school to college.

An important foundation for EPS is a nationally prominent engineering curriculum for middle and high schools called Project Lead the Way (PLTW). PLTW curriculum is integrated with math and science and through project based learning introduces students to basic principles and hands-on design engineering activities in a variety of technical disciplines. Launched in 1996, PLTW today serves more than 350,000 students nationwide in more than 4,000 schools – including 230 in California. The SJSU College of Engineering is the Regional Center for PLTW.

The 2,000 students currently engaged in the PLTW curriculum come from 23 Bay Area schools, from Richmond High School in the East Bay, to San José High School in downtown San José, to Gunn High School in Palo Alto. An additional 20 Bay Area schools will begin offering PLTW classes in fall 2011. Based on demographic data acquired by SJSU, the percentage of female, Asian and Hispanic students in PLTW classes is significantly higher than in the population currently represented in the profession. (see table below)

Eric Dias, an 18-year old graduating senior from San Jose High School, started taking PLTW courses three years ago as a sophomore. He also spent four years on his school’s robotics team, this past year as lead programmer. Eric heads to SJSU in the fall as an incoming freshman with plans to major in software engineering. “Studying engineering in high school opens up a whole new world for students,” said Eric. “You can learn how to model and build things, and if you really like it, continue on and potentially make some of the things you see online and in video games as a career. I love that.”

Incoming SJSU President Mo Qayoumi, who assumes the post on July 1, 2011, has pledged continued support for EPS. Dr. Qayoumi earned a degree in electrical engineering and worked on engineering projects in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates before coming to the United States, and has long considered STEM education one of his top priorities as an academic leader.

“Increasing the workforce in the STEM fields is essential to our nation’s global competitiveness, economic recovery and growth,” said Dr. Qayoumi. “Community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and the business community all must work together and with K-12 schools to engage more young students in STEM disciplines and help them succeed in school and their careers.”

About the KLA-Tencor FoundationKLA-Tencor Corporation established the KLA-Tencor Foundation to focus more closely on the needs of the communities where the company’s employees and their families live and work. The KLA-Tencor Foundation encourages all KLA-Tencor employees to share their time, talents and resources with organizations and programs that make a difference in their local communities. With a focus on building relationships with education, health and wellness and social service providers, the KLA-Tencor Foundation aims to inspire individual philanthropy while establishing and maintaining community support programs. Specifically, the KLA-Tencor Foundation seeks to support educational programs and institutions (with an emphasis on STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), health and wellness programs and providers, as well as local community human needs organizations. Programs supported vary on a global and local scale, and include community initiatives through four key programs, including cash grants, in-kind donations, volunteer time, and matching gifts. Additional information.

About Xilinx
Xilinx is the world’s leading provider of programmable platforms. More information.

About Project Lead the Way
Project Lead The Way, Inc., a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, is the leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM education curricular programs used in schools. PLTW’s comprehensive curriculum has been collaboratively designed by PLTW teachers, university educators, engineering and biomedical professionals, and school administrators to promote critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving skills in students. The hands-on, project-based program engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to areas of study that they typically do not pursue, and provides them with a foundation and proven path to college and career success. More than 350,000 students in nearly 4,000 schools in 50 states plus Washington, D.C., are currently taking PLTW courses. More information.

About San Jose State University Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering
The Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering at San José State University, the largest provider of engineers to Silicon Valley companies, has over 4,000 students enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs. The college offers engineering degrees in aerospace, chemical, computer, electrical, materials, mechanical, civil and environmental, industrial and systems, and aviation and technology. SJSU’s engineering program was ranked 12th nationally among public master’s-level programs in U.S. News & World Report’s annual survey of “America’s Best Colleges 2011.” More information.

About San Jose State UniversitySan Jose State – Silicon Valley’s largest institution of higher learning with 29,000 students and 3,190 employees – is part of the California State University system. SJSU’s 154-acre downtown campus anchors the nation’s 10th largest city. More information.

Sources2009 data from kidsdata.org; California Post-Secondary Education Commission; based on national averages compiled by American Society for Engineering Education; National Center for Education Statistics, NCES 2009-161. Students who study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in postsecondary education, Washington, DC: U.S Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences.

Comparison of U.S., California, Santa Clara County, Bay Area Project Lead the Way (PLTW), and engineering demographics